How Can a Stoic Work For Others with Jennifer Baker

This video is an excerpted version of our Conversations with Modern Stoicism event with Jennifer Baker.
The presentation is a discussion about the Stoic perspective on work, focusing on the Stoic understanding of work, the importance of following orders, and the ability to resist orders when necessary. Jennifer Baker also explores the challenges of working under unsavory bosses and in complex organizations. Additionally, she explores different perspectives on work, such as individualism and the work ethic, and discusses how they align or diverge from Stoic principles. Jennifer Baker provides insights and suggestions on how to approach work in a philosophically Stoic way.
Conversations with Modern Stoicism is a interactive virtual gathering that provides an opportunity for Stoics around the world to connect, learn, and engage in meaningful dialogue with each other.
The events feature a presentation from a respected speaker followed by multiple rounds of audience conversations via the Breakout Rooms feature in Zoom.
The events are lively, engaging opportunities to collaborate with others as you pursue your journey into philosophical Stoicism.
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About our Presenter:
Jennifer Baker is a graduate of Brown University (B.A. in Philosophy and Political Science, 1995) and the University of Arizona (Ph.D., 2003).
Her research is on virtue ethics, and she looks to ancient ethical theories as positive examples of how ethics ought to be done today.
She teaches courses on ethical and political theory, environmental ethics and philosophy, business ethics, bioethics, and American philosophy.
She has previously presented at Stoicon 2023, The 2023 North American Stoic Summit, Stoicon-X Military, and Stoicon-X Women.

[@tamannachandel6663]

Thank you! I had the chance to listen to Jennifer live! It was amazing. Looking forward to the next meet in March!❤❤❤

[@livewiya]

19:15 I think the problem is that (outside of Stoic and/or positive psychology circles) we don't often use language to distinguish happiness from true-happiness. Most research asks how happy a person is, in one form or another, but it rarely invites them to reflect if they actually have good reasons to be happy. It makes sense that some forms of research would have to operationalize "happiness" to a simple mood/affective state - I'm not suggesting that such methods can't produce useful knowledge; however, I think we should have more self-respect and prioritize having good reasons to be happy rather than happiness itself.

[@livewiya]

I'm sympathetic to the question. I myself am a clinician so I habitually ask, "what's the evidence base for this?" Medicine has had many well-reasoned treatments/interventions that failed to produce real outcomes once subjected to rigorous study.
But if we accept the premise that most people (ourselves included) are ignorant and/or confused about what is actually good much of the time, we shouldn't adopt behaviors simply because it makes most people happy.